1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a facsimile transceiver, and more particularly to an improved structure of a facsimile transceiver which is designed to provide a user with ease of maintenance of a paper feeding path.
2. Background Art
In recent yeas, laser printer type facsimile transceivers which prints recorded images on regular sheets of printing paper, have become used widely.
FIG. 5 shows a conventional laser printer type facsimile transceiver. This facsimile transceiver includes generally a housing body 101, a recording paper cassette 102 in which sheets of recording paper are stacked, a pick up roller 103 for picking the sheets of recording paper up to a recording station, recording paper feeding rollers 104 for feeding the sheets of recording paper along a recording paper feeding path C through the recording station to a recording paper ejecting tray 105, and a recording station cover 106. When the recording paper is jammed in the feeding path C, a facsimile operator may open the recording station cover 106 around a support shaft 107 for removing the jammed recording paper.
The facsimile machine further includes a document feeder tray 108, a guide roller 109, a supply roller 110, a separating plate 111, feeding rollers 112. The guide roller 109 guides documents placed on the document feeder tray 108 sequentially from the lowermost sheet thereof to the supply roller 110. The separating plate 111 presses the upper surface of the documents on the guide roller 109, while the supply roller rotates in contact with an leading edge of the lowermost sheet of the documents guided by the guide roller 109 to sequentially feed them forward. The feeding rollers 112 are mounted on the housing body 101 and urges pinch rollers 113 under a constant pressure to establish tight engagement therebetween. The feeding rollers 112 and the pinch rollers 113 are arranged adjacent the center line of a document feeding path B. The feeding rollers 112 rotate while holding the document between same and the pinch rollers 113 to advance it through an image reading system 114 to a document ejecting tray 115. The pinch rollers 113 are supported by a reading station cover 116. The reading station cover 116 has the separating plate 111 disposed thereon adjacent a document inlet. When the document is jammed in the document feeding path B, the facsimile operator may open the reading station cover 116 around a support shaft 117 for removal of the jammed document. A latch 118 is provided on the reading station cover 116 near the document inlet and holds the recording station cover 116 on the housing body 101.
In a record mode of operation, one sheet of recording paper is picked up by the pick up roller 103 from the recording paper cassette 102. Images are then printed on the recording paper while carried by the feeding rollers 104 along the recording paper feeding path C. During the recording operation, when the recording paper is jammed in the recording paper feeding path C, the facsimile operator first removes the recording paper ejecting tray 105 from the side of the housing body 101 to provide a space required for opening the recording station cover 106. When the recording station cover 106 is opened, the recording paper feeding path C will be exposed so that the facsimile operator can remove the jammed recording paper therefrom. After removal of the jammed recording paper, the recording station cover 106 is returned to its closed position and then the recording paper ejecting tray 105 is set to the housing body 101 again. Afterwards, the recording operation is resumed.
In a reading mode of operation, some lower sheets of documents stacked on the document tray 108 are advanced by the guide roller 109 to the supply roller 110. Upon reaching the supply roller 110, the documents are pressed downward by the separating plate 111. The supply roller 110 rotates in engagement with the lowermost sheet of the documents to supply them sequentially in ascending order. The document supplied by the supply roller 110 is held between the feeding rollers 112 and the pinch rollers 113 and images printed thereon is read by the image reading system 114. During the reading operation, when the document is jammed in the document feeding path B, the facsimile operator may release the latch 118 to open the reading station cover 116 for exposing the document feeding path B. After removal of the jammed document, the reading station cover 116 is closed and then the latch 118 is hooked on a pin (not shown) secured on the housing body 101. Afterwards, the reading operation is resumed.
The above prior art facsimile machine however, has faced the following difficulties. First, the facsimile operator, when away from the facsimile machine, cannot visually perceive facsimile reception easily since the recording paper ejecting tray 105 is arranged beneath the document paper ejecting tray 115. Additionally, since the recording paper ejecting tray 105 and the recording station cover 106 are both arranged on the side wall of the housing body 101, opening the recording station cover 106 requires removing the document paper ejecting tray 115 and the recording paper ejecting tray 105 to keep a space corresponding to the size of the recording station cover 106 on the side of the housing body 101. This wastes considerable time of the operator.
Moreover, component parts of the image reading system 114 such as mirrors, lenses, and photosensitive element are mounted independently in the housing body 101, and angular adjustment and positioning thereof are required during assembly of the image reading system 114, therefore, it is difficult to assemble the image reading system 114 simultaneously with assemble of the housing body 101. The assembly of the image reading system 114 must be performed after completion of the assembly of the housing body 101. A great deal of time is therefore, consumed in assembling the whole of the facsimile transceiver.